Reports of a new strain of the coronavirus in Barbados’ main tourism market, the United Kingdom and as far as Australia and South Africa have triggered flight cancellations, travel bans and worry but regional health authority, PAHO in Barbados and Eastern Caribbean assured Monday there was no need to panic.
In a statement, Dr Yitabres Gebre stressed that the international health agency was investigating the strain, which was first identified in the UK back to September 2020, even as he stressed the need for Barbados, and its Caribbean neighbours to double down on COVID-19 protocols.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new restrictions because of the new strain. A growing number of countries, including Grenada, many European nations and Canada, Monday put a ban or limited flights to try to stop any spread.
Health experts in the UK and US said the strain seems to infect more easily than others, But Dr Gebre said there is not enough data to prove the strain was more lethal or that new COVID-19 vaccines would be less effective.
He said: “Further studies are needed to characterize if this variant strain is different in terms of virulence, transmissibility, and other characteristics. Given the many factors that contribute to transmission dynamics, there is not sufficient evidence yet to support that this strain or any other particular strain or mutation might be fully associated to an increased infectivity pattern or virulence or vaccine efficacy. We will continue to inform countries and the public as we learn more.
“The UK government has reported that there is no evidence at this stage to suggest the Covid-19 vaccines currently being rolled out across the country will not work against the new variant of coronavirus.”
Dr Gebre stressed that all viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2, change over time, pointing out that there have so far been hundreds of variations of the virus identified worldwide and PAHO/WHO has been following them closely.
“So far, most changes of this virus have had little to no impact on how it transmits or the severity of disease it causes, “ he said.
The PAHO/WHO expert noted that although some specific mutations appear to be more infectious during tests involving animals, the “ experimental findings may not accurately reflect the effect of variants on virus transmissibility within the human population.
“In fact, evidence indicates that the SARSCoV-2 viral variants identified to date have a much lesser influence on the transmissibility and severity of COVID-19 than other risk factors, such as age, underlying conditions, or even social behaviour and attachment to Public Health measures.”
Dr Gebres stressed that it was important to remind communities and health workers of basic principles to reduce the general risk of transmission of acute respiratory infections:
These include avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections, frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment and people with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette – maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands. (BT/PR)
